Our state safety net is a crucial lifeline for families and children in poverty, whether it is providing child care assistance to help a single mom get to work, providing affordable and quality health care to a child or disabled person, or ensuring that kids can get breakfast at school. Unfortunately, West Virginia has one of the weakest safety nets in the country.
This is according to a recent report by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) that examined the commitment of state safety nets to addressing poverty. NCCP measured the strength of each state’s safety net by looking at the share of state spending going to public welfare programs (e.g., TANF, SSI, Medicaid, SCHIP, and other programs) based on each state’s poverty rate.
According to the report, West Virginia had the 4th weakest safety net in 2008. With only 33.7 percent of West Virginia’s state spending going to public welfare. Nationally, the average was 34.6 percent or slightly higher than West Virginia. Because of West Virginia’s above average poverty rate (17% in 2008), NCCP concluded the state needs to spend about 45.7 percent on its safety net in order to meet the national average.
Using updated 2010 data provided by U.S. Census Bureau, the table below shows similar results. In 2010, West Virginia spent 35.8 percent of direct state expenditures on safety net programs compared to 36.5 percent nationally. While the slight increase in safety net spending in 2010 was likely due to the lingering effects of the Great Recession, West Virginia still ranks below most states in its commitment to safety-net spending. As the table shows, West Virginia would need to increase safety-net spending by about 13 percent to match the commitment that most states make to their safety nets.
States with Strong and Weak Safety Net Commitments, 2010
| State | Actual Safety Net Spending (%) | Expected Safety Net Spending (%) | Actual-Expected (percentage points) | State Poverty Rate (%) |
| ALL STATES |
36.5 |
36.5 |
N/A |
N/A |
Ten Highest Expenditure States
| Minnesota |
48.1 |
31.2 |
16.9 |
11.6 |
| New Hampshire |
36.3 |
22.3 |
14.0 |
8.3 |
| Maryland |
37.3 |
26.6 |
10.7 |
9.9 |
| Massachusetts |
41.2 |
30.6 |
10.6 |
11.4 |
| Maine |
43.9 |
34.7 |
9.2 |
12.9 |
| Nevada |
31.6 |
40.0 |
8.4 |
14.9 |
| New Jersey |
34.5 |
27.7 |
6.8 |
10.3 |
| Connecticut |
32.8 |
27.2 |
5.6 |
10.1 |
| Rhode Island |
43.0 |
37.6 |
5.4 |
14.0 |
| New York |
45.4 |
40.1 |
5.3 |
14.9 |
Ten Lowest Expenditure States
| Louisiana |
27.6 |
50.3 |
-22.7 |
18.7 |
| Mississippi |
40.0 |
60.2 |
-20.2 |
22.4 |
| New Mexico |
37.9 |
54.9 |
-17.0 |
20.4 |
| Alabama |
34.2 |
51.1 |
-16.9 |
19.0 |
| North Carolina |
32.7 |
47.1 |
-14.4 |
17.5 |
| Kentucky |
36.9 |
51.1 |
-14.2 |
19.0 |
| South Carolina |
34.9 |
48.9 |
-14.0 |
18.2 |
| West Virginia |
35.8 |
48.7 |
-12.9 |
18.1 |
| California |
30.0 |
42.5 |
-12.5 |
15.8 |
| Colorado |
23.7 |
36.0 |
-12.3 |
13.4 |
Other States
| Alaska |
21.8 |
26.6 |
-4.8 |
9.9 |
| Arizona |
43.6 |
46.8 |
-3.2 |
17.4 |
| Arkansas |
39.9 |
50.6 |
-10.7 |
18.8 |
| Delaware |
29.0 |
31.7 |
-2.7 |
11.8 |
| Florida |
41.4 |
44.4 |
-3.0 |
16.5 |
| Georgia |
36.5 |
48.1 |
-11.6 |
17.9 |
| Hawaii |
20.4 |
28.8 |
-8.4 |
10.7 |
| Idaho |
35.0 |
42.2 |
-7.2 |
15.7 |
| Illinois |
39.1 |
37.1 |
2.0 |
13.8 |
| Indiana |
38.4 |
41.2 |
-2.8 |
15.3 |
| Iowa |
38.1 |
33.9 |
4.5 |
12.6 |
| Kansas |
33.4 |
36.6 |
-3.2 |
13.6 |
| Michigan |
36.6 |
45.2 |
-8.6 |
16.8 |
| Missouri |
37.0 |
41.1 |
-4.1 |
15.3 |
| Montana |
27.1 |
39.3 |
-12.2 |
14.6 |
| Nebraska |
33.8 |
34.7 |
-0.9 |
12.9 |
| North Dakota |
23.7 |
35.0 |
-11.3 |
13.0 |
| Ohio |
39.3 |
42.5 |
-3.2 |
15.8 |
| Oklahoma |
36.5 |
45.5 |
-9.0 |
16.9 |
| Oregon |
32.9 |
42.5 |
-9.6 |
15.8 |
| Pennsylvania |
40.4 |
36.0 |
4.4 |
13.4 |
| South Dakota |
29.9 |
38.7 |
-8.8 |
14.4 |
| Tennessee |
46.9 |
47.6 |
-0.7 |
17.7 |
| Texas |
37.8 |
48.1 |
-10.3 |
17.9 |
| Utah |
23.8 |
35.5 |
-11.7 |
13.2 |
| Vermont |
38.4 |
34.1 |
4.3 |
12.7 |
| Virginia |
29.4 |
29.9 |
-0.5 |
11.1 |
| Washington |
32.0 |
36.0 |
-4.0 |
13.4 |
| Wisconsin |
37.4 |
35.5 |
1.9 |
13.2 |
| Wyoming |
23.0 |
30.1 |
-7.1 |
11.2 |
Source: National Center on Children and Poverty
Notes: Actual Safety Net Spending is the ratio of public welfare spending to total direct state general expenditure. The ratio of the safety net share of spending is 2.69 to one. For each increase in the state poverty rate of one percentage point, the Expected Safety Net Spending increases by 2.69 percentage points.
West Virginia needs to invest more to prevent more working families and children from falling into poverty. Too many continue slipping through the holes in the safety net. To strengthen the state’s safety net and reduce poverty, West Virginia could join the other states that have expanded their commitment to children in poverty, such as expanding Medicaid, providing work subsidies, enacting a state Earned Income Tax Credit or Child Care Tax Credit, providing additional funds for child care assistance, and getting rid of asset limits on public welfare programs.
For West Virginia to be a great place to live, work, and raise a family, it must take concrete steps to reduce the high number of families living in poverty. While this will require federal action, it is clear that state policymakers can also play a vital role in strengthening our state’s safety net.
